Penter



Nrrn Spares arten. v

arent AIR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,736, dated July 26, 1892. Application filed December 15,1891. Serial No. 415,167. (No model) To all whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, Jnssn FAIRFIELD OAR- PENTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at IVashington, in the District of Columbia,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Air-Brakes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to automatic quickacting air-brakes.

The invention consists, first, in a so-called quick-acting triple valve, which has fewer parts and fewer and more direct through-passages than commonly found in ordinary airbrakes of this character.

The invention also consists in the means whereby the effective brake force applied to each car may be easily varied at will through the simple shifting of a cock under each car by hand in passing along the train, Vso that the brakemen in making up trains can vary the brake force on loaded and empty cars by shifting these cocks, and thus prevent a skidding of the wheels on the one side which follows the application of too much brake force to the empty cars, and also thus prevent ineficient braking, on the other hand, through the application of too little force to the loaded cars.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in the two figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure l is a side elevation showing the auxiliary reservoir and brake-cylinder in section, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the triple valve.

a is the brake-cylinder with a piston b therec is the quick-action triple valve.

d is the auxiliary reservoir,which is divided into two chambers d and d2 by a fixed partition cl3. These two chambers communicate with each other through the passages @and e and the plug-cock f. The small chamber d2 of the reservoir communicates directly with the triple valve through passage g, and also communicates with the brake-cylinder through the triple valve and the passage or pipe 7L. It now the cockf be turned in one position, it cuts oif the communication between the two chambers of the auxiliary reservoir, so that the application of the brake is effected only by means of the air-pressure stored in chamber cl2 of the reservoir. If the cock, on the other han d, be turned in the other position,

. third of the reservoir came into use.

the two chambers of the auxiliary reservoir are communicating and the air-pressure in both chambers of the reservoir will be available for use in the brake-cylinder. In other words, as the brake force or air-pressure upon the piston is relatively dependent upon the size of the reservoir from which it is drawn, the varying of the size of this reservoir Sthe easiest means for varying the pressure applied to the brake-piston. In common practice it will be found best to make the chainber d' double the capacity of chamber d2, so that, roughlystated, a loaded car will have three times the brake force exerted upon it that an emptyone would, Where only the first It will be easily understood that the cock fmight be shifted by means of simple rods passing out from under the carto a convenient point on each side of the same where the trainmen could easily operate them without getting un der the car.

In the quickaction triple valve c, t' is the body or case,jthe back cover, and le the main piston moving therein. The train-pipe connects with the valve at Z. The passage g connects with the reservoir, the passage m with the brake cylinder. Air-pressure entering from the train-pipe at l passes up through the back coverj, behind the piston 7c, and through a small groove a at the top of passage g to the reservoir, charging the same. If now the pressure in the train pipe Z be slightly reduced, the pressure back of the piston 7c in chamber 0 will also be reduced and the pressure from the reservoir passing through the passage g will act upon the back part of the piston 7c, driving it to the right, when by means of the small passage p air-pressure will pass into the chamber @thence through the small valve r to the brake-cylinder, the slight reduction that was made in the trainpipe being only sufficient to move the valvepiston 7c slightly and raise the small valve 1*. The resistance of the largo valve s prevents the piston 7e from going farther.

If, instead of a slight reduction, a large reduction has been made in the train-pipe, the opposite force of the air acting upon piston 7c would be sufficient to move the same its full stroke to the left and the large valve s would beopened. This Would causea sud- ICO den exhaustion of air from the chamber q, which the inflowing air, through the small passage p, would be unable to materially reinforce, and thus the pressure in the chamber q would suddenly fall below the pipepressure and the latter would force open the check-valve t, whereby air from the trainpipe would have a direct passage to the brake-cylinder without passing through the reservoir at all. The heavy spring t on top of valve t serves to close the same before the pressures are equalized, and also serves to prevent fail-ure to release the brake through pressure from train-pipe, recharging the auxiliary reservoir without irst moving back the main piston 7c and releasing the brake-pressure in cylinder through slide-valve u.

In order to have the check-valve z5 in the main piston lo work direct as an automatic exhaust from the main pipeV to the brake-cylinder, it is necessary that while the main reservoir should exert full pressure by means of the large port g upon the reservoir side of the valve-piston 7s the reservoir should only have a contracted access by the small port p, or simply by leakage around the trunk of the piston 7c to the brake-cylinder or to the chamber q, containing the inlet-valves fr and S, to the brake-cylinder, which chamber must, however, form a large through-passage from the check-valvet to the large inlet-port to the brake-cylinder.

The casing of the quick-action triple valve c is made with the usual lining c', and in one end of this lining is secured the annular seat c2 for the valve s, said valve heinga Hat valve with a winged stem s', working in the annular seat to guide the said valve. The stem s is hollow and perforated transversely with holes s2, which constitute ports for the passage of air admitted through valve Yr. 'lhis valve r seats in the flat portion of valve s, and also has a solid portion fitting in the bore of stem s', and between these portions the valve r is cut awayor made as a skeleton aboutthe ports s2. The passage controlled by the valve s is relatively larger than the passage coutrolled by the valve of'. The valve r has an ut 7" applied to one end which abuts against the end of the stem s', and thereby said valve r would be closed by the closing of valve s; but there is also alimitof free and independent movement of valve r by reason of the fact that its stem is longer than the stem s. The

stern k of the piston 7i; is hollow and is provided with a slide 2, normally projected from the stern by a spring 3 and limited in movement by the collar 4 within the hollow stem. The valve r has a rod extension r2, which is secured by a pin r3 or otherwise to the slide 2 and moves with it. Obviously the movement of the piston is imparted to the slide and the valve r and through valve r and its nut r to the valve sunder the restrictions of the spring and the collar 4. The valve r upon a sufficient movement of the piston to the right would open first and upon further movement of the piston would pull open the valve s. The stem k has usual lugs 5 and 6 for moving the slide a. The passage p is larger than the passage of valve fr, butsmaller than the passage of valve s, for the purposes already stated,

What I claim isl. An auxiliary reservoir divided into two chambers, combined with a passage between said chambers, a valve in said passage, and an operating hand-lever for the valve within convenient reach of trainmen, to be actuated byhandin making up trains, substantially as described, and for the purposes specified.

2. In an automatic valve for train-brakes, the combination of the main piston, the checkvalve therein, and the slide-valve connected with and operated by the piston for releasing the brakes, with the valve fr, carried by the piston and controlling a small passage to the brake-cylinder, and the valve s, in which the valve r and its passage are located and itself controlling a large passage to the brake-cylinder, substantially as described.

The combination of the piston and the slide-valve u for releasing the brakes, the valves r and s for controlling the passage of air to the brake-cylinder, the former seating within the latter and both actuated by the piston, the chamber g, the check-valve in the piston, and the passage p between the auxiliary reservoir and the chamber q and made larger than the passage through the valve r, but smaller than the passage through the valve s, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of December, A. D. 1891.

J. FAIRFIELD CARPENTER.

'Witnessesz WM. l-I. FINCKEL, E. A. FINCKEL.

IOO 

